Natural ability scores every time

Sir, Patrick Coffey (letter, Mar 24) objects to Diego Maradona being placed above Pelé in the greatest football player rankings on the ground, among others, that Pelé played in more successful teams and scored more goals. With respect, that is a reflection of the quality of their respective team-mates rather than their individual talents. Without Maradona the Argentine sides of his era would have been a footnote; without Pelé it is unlikely that Brazil would have been anything less than a great side.

Certainly Pelé’s conduct both on and off the pitch has been more commendable; but there is the old saying that nice guys finish last. The likes of Mike Tyson, George Best and Alex Higgins, for example, indulged in a fair bit of questionable conduct over the years, but their sporting greatness has not been downgraded as a result. If anything, Maradona’s astonishing natural ability is highlighted by the fact that his lifestyle was less than conducive to international sport.

3 comments:

I agree with this although you might make the contrast too great. There were great players in the '86 and '90 Argentina teams besides Maradona, but cant' remember their names now. Arg did win the WC in '78 without Diego (he was in the squad but hardly played). You think Brazil would have done just as well as they did without Pele?Further support for Maradona is to look at their club playing. I don;t think Pele played in Europe. Maradona played for Naples and they actually won the league with him something they've never done before or since. He almost single-handedly did that.For what its worth, I think Maradona was the best.

I also think Argentina would have won it in '94 if it weren't for the drug scandal. Which reminds me: players should be allowed to use performance-enhancing drugs, think how much more entertaining sport would be.

It's a bit of an exaggeration I'll concede but I do remember the 1986 WC and it was the Maradonna show from start to finish (the original letter to which I was replying made the ludicrous claim that Linekar was almost as good that year - no he wasn't. He hung around in goal and finished a few). Every Argentine game revolved around Maradonna; even the final when the others won it because the Germans spent 90 minutes trying to shut Maradonna out of the game. But yes I probably overstated the case somewhat.

As to your second point, not sure about that but I do think that Guiness book of records' times etc should stand even for drug cheats. This is because even though, say, Ben Johnson was rightly stripped of his medal at Seol he was, then, the fastest runner ever over 100m - so should have been in the Guiness Book of Records accordingly.

JRJW law and publishing

This is the blog of James Wilson. I am a freelance legal knowledge manager, author, editor, publisher and PR adviser. It contains details on the books and articles I have written as well as a general blog which I update from time to time as commitments allow.

I have over 15 years experience in legal knowledge management and publishing, prior to which I worked as a solicitor in commercial litigation. If you wish to contact me, please do so via my LinkedIn profile.

Court and Bowled

My latest book, Court and Bowled: tales of cricket and the law, is available from the publishers here or from Amazon here.

The book looks at a number of stories where cricket or cricketers gave rise to a legal dispute. It begins with a short history of cricket as it appears in the early law reports, including the case from 1598 which contains the very first known use of the word cricket . It then turns to individual cases from Victorian times to the present day. It is aimed not just at lawyers but anyone interested in cricket and stories from on and off the pitch.

Cases, Causes and Controversies

Cases, Causes and Controversies: Fifty Tales from the Law - a book of mine published by Wildy, Simmonds & Hill.

The book looks at fifty interesting cases, legislative measures or general legal problems from the mid-nineteenth century to the present. It is intended as an interesting general read rather than a dry legal tract.

Disclaimer

This blog is maintained for information purposes only. It is not intended to be a source of legal advice and must not be relied upon as such. The views expressed are the author's own and not that of LexisNexis or any other organisation.